Litigation Lawyers in Travelers Rest

If you are a resident of Travelers Rest, South Carolina and believe that somebody has committed a legal wrong against you, and have decided that the effort and expense involved in seeking compensation is worth it, you may consider filing a lawsuit.

If you think that you may want to file a lawsuit, you should not make this decision lightly, and there are a lot of factors that need to be taken into account. Obviously, you should never go into a lawsuit without at least consulting a reliable Travelers Rest, South Carolina civil litigation attorney.

Your Travelers Rest, South Carolina civil litigation attorney will be able to advise you on whether or not you have a legitimate case, and, if so, your best options on how to proceed. The attorney will also discuss with you the fees for their services, and whether he or she can represent you on a contingency basis.

Steps for Filing a Lawsuit in Travelers Rest, South Carolina

Consultation with your attorney: Before you file a lawsuit in a Travelers Rest, South Carolina court, you need to meet and confer with a local lawyer. You lawyer in Travelers Rest, South Carolina can advise you on whether or not your lawsuit has merit, and how likely it is to succeed.

Drafting The Complaint: Once you decide that pursuing a lawsuit in Travelers Rest, South Carolina civil court is worth your time and effort, you need to file a complaint. The complaint can set the tone, and frame the issues, for the rest of the litigation process, which can drag on for months, or even years (and decades, in some cases). This is because the complaint lays out all the allegations against the defendant. It also normally asks the court for specific relief, should it rule in the plaintiff's favor.

Serving The Defendant: Once you have drafted your complaint, you need to serve the defendant with it, and file it with the court. Travelers Rest, South Carolina requires that lawsuits be served on defendants in a particular way. This is to ensure that the defendant has a good deal of notice that they're being sued, giving them time to find an attorney, and work on how they're going to defend themselves. It is strongly preferred to serve defendants in person (with a disinterested third party delivering the papers to the defendant). Sometimes, however, the defendant cannot be found, or is trying to avoid service, they can be served by mail with court approval.

Await Defendant's Response: In Travelers Rest, South Carolina, the law gives civil defendants a fairly long period of time (a month or two normally) to respond to a lawsuit against them. The most frequent response is either an answer (where they address the factual allegations against them, normally denying most or all of the allegations) or a motion to dismiss (where the contend that, even if everything alleged in the complaint is true, those facts would not establish liability). If the defendant does nothing, and fails to respond, they run the risk of having a default judgment entered against them. This normally means that the court automatically rules against them, treating the plaintiff as if they won the lawsuit. This gives the plaintiff a judgment against the defendant, which they can seek to collect using all legal means.

How Can A Travelers Rest, South Carolina Tort Lawyer Help?

As you can see, it can be a complex and difficult process to file a lawsuit in Travelers Rest, South Carolina, and it is, in fact, much more complex than the basic outline you just read.

You should seek the advice of a reliable litigation attorney if you are planning on filing a lawsuit against somebody who you think has wronged you in Travelers Rest, South Carolina.